The Toys Explanation

Lines 1-6
My little Son, who look’d from thoughtful eyes

And moved and spoke in quiet grown-up wise,

Having my law the seventh time disobey’d,

I struck him, and dismiss’d

With hard words and unkiss’d,

His Mother, who was patient, being dead.

Coventry Patmore’s poem “The Toys” begins with a reference to his son. Patmore capitalizes the first letter
of “Son” for the sake of emphasis. The child looked at his father with thoughtful eyes. He moved and
spoke quietly. Listening to him, it appeared to the speaker that he had grown up and became wise. From
the phrase “grown-up wise”, it becomes clear that the speaker was angry with his son.

The following line describes why he was angry. His son disobeyed him for the seventh time. He thought
the boy might have become wise to not follow his orders. So, he rebuked him and refused to give him a
kiss before he went to sleep. Patmore uses the term “struck” in order to reflect the impact of his words and
his rudeness on his son’s mind. He did not beat him but his words had struck his heart. Besides, his mother
was no more. So, there was none to comfort him except his father.

Lines 7-11
Then, fearing lest his grief should hinder sleep,

I visited his bed,

But found him slumbering deep,

With darken’d eyelids, and their lashes yet

From his late sobbing wet.

The speaker, being aware of the fact, feared that his son could not sleep because of the pain he inflicted on
his heart. So, he went to his room and found that he was already asleep. He was slumbering deep for his
mental weariness after being rudely treated by his father. His eyes had become dark from sobbing and his
eyelashes were still wet. This image of his son evoked a sense of guilt in his heart. Besides, Patmore makes
use of organic imagery in order to convey the internal feelings of the father and son.

Lines 12-21
And I, with moan,

Kissing away his tears, left others of my own;

For, on a table drawn beside his head,

Lines 12-21
And I, with moan,

Kissing away his tears, left others of my own;

For, on a table drawn beside his head,

He had put, within his reach,

A box of counters and a red-vein’d stone,

A piece of glass abraded by the beach

And six or seven shells,

A bottle with bluebells

And two French copper coins, ranged there with careful art,

To comfort his sad heart.

The darkened eyelids of the boy made the father so sad that he could not help but cry and moan. He kissed
on his wet cheek and left his own on his face. In this way, the poet describes the soft side of the father’s
heart. He indeed reacted cruelly yet he commiserated with his son. The realization of his mistake made him
return the kiss which he refused to give.

In the following lines, readers find a number of toys that the boy treasured. There was a table near his head.
He had put several objects that he collected on the table. There was a box of counters, a red-vein’d stone, a
piece of abraded glass, some shells, a bottle with bluebell flowers, and two French copper coins.

Everything was arranged carefully. It showed how valuable the toys were to the boy. These things were not
extremely rare or precious. But for the boy, they had immense value. He had given several hours to find
these items.

Whenever he was sad, he sought solace in his toys. That’s why, when he went to bed on that night, he kept
them close. He knew others might cause pain to his heart but these things would never do that.

In these lines, Patmore describes how children take pleasure in simple things that adults would find
meaningless. When they were kids, they did the same. As grown-ups, they forgot how to cherish the
simplicity and how to be content with less. Hence, they cannot even understand what is less valuable for
them, is precious for children.

Lines 22-27
So when that night I

To God, I wept, and said:

Ah, when at last we lie with e,

Not vexing Thee in death,

And Thou what toys

Lines 22-27
So when that night I pray’d

To God, I wept, and said:

Ah, when at last we lie with tranced breath,

Not vexing Thee in death,

And Thou rememberest of what toys

We made our joys,

In the last section of “The Toys”, Patmore describes the impression of the incident on his mind. On that
night, he returned from his son’s room. He wept for his mistake and prayed to God for forgiveness. This
incident made him so moved that he thought of dying from the pain. The poet insinuates the fact in the line
“when at last we lie with tranced breath”. When one person is in a half-conscious state without having the
ability to move or react, he is in the state of trance. It occurs at the time of death.

The poetic persona did not wish to vex or complain to God in death. God, being aware of the acts of his
children, knows what “toys” made their “joys”. Here, the term “toys” is used to metaphorically hint at the
materialism of mankind. Fame, money, and earthly success become the “toys” of adults. As long as they
have these things they remain happy. By referring to the child’s toys and the toys of adults, Patmore
presents the theme of innocence vs worldliness.

Lines 28-33
How weakly understood

Thy great commanded good,

Then, fatherly not less

Than I whom Thou hast moulded from the clay,

Thou’lt leave Thy wrath, and say,

“I will be sorry for their childishness.”

Whatsoever, the speaker describes his ignorance in emotive terms. According to him, he weakly
understood God’s commands. He disobeyed his commandments throughout his life for not realizing their
importance. God’s words are for the collective good of humankind. But, very few of them are able to
understand it.

He became aware of his mistake after the incident. So, he said that God is the father of humankind just like
him. But, God is greater than him. He was the one who molded him from the clay and provided him
spiritual nourishment to grow both inwardly and outwardly. Yet, he preferred the outward growth more
than the internal one.

Like the speaker was angry with his son, he thinks God might be the same with him as well as others. So,
he wished that he would not be angry with him. He would be sorry for the childishness of humankind. The
last line of the poem contains an allusion to a biblical passage.